


The Herald's Blessing

by Farashe



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 13:39:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4307199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farashe/pseuds/Farashe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen finds Myrlana in an unexpected place. Takes place soon after Cullen's personal quest.</p>
<p>This was written in response to the prompt "prayers" received on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Herald's Blessing

Cullen stopped a servant in Skyhold’s Great Hall. The elven lad looked up at the Commander with trepidation. Cullen tried to look reassuring, but he felt the frown pull at the corners of his mouth and knew the servant was probably terrified he’d done something to offend.

“Have you seen the Inquisitor?” he asked.

The elf blinked up at him. “Yes, ser, I mean Commander. I saw her heading into the garden but a few moments ago.”

Cullen nodded gratefully then strode toward the garden himself. There was almost no one there when he entered. A couple of gardeners tending a patch of prophet’s laurel and a young woman reading on a bench that Cullen vaguely recognized as one of the mages were the only denizens. With so few people, it was immediately obvious that Myrlana was not present. Cullen frowned again then began to walk around the edges of the garden toward the stairs thinking Myrlana had been merely passing through, but he stopped when he heard a voice from the Chantry chapel.

He approached the door and peered inside. Myrlana stood in front of the statue of Andraste with her head down. Her hands were fidgeting with the hem of her shirt and she kept shifting her weight from foot to foot. What was she doing in here?

“...stupid to ask, since I don’t believe in your Maker,” she was saying. “But everyone calls me your Herald so if you are more than a long dead woman maybe I’m entitled to a favor. It doesn’t hurt to ask, at least I hope not.”

What was she doing? Praying to Andraste? Cullen knew her views on the Maker and being called the Herald of Andraste so he couldn’t fathom what could have brought her here. Then his head snapped up as he heard her speak his name.

“It’s Cullen. He’s struggling, I know, and it’s hard for me to watch. I desperately want to help. I want so badly for him to believe that he’s as strong as I know he is, but I see it in his eyes. He still thinks that he’ll slip, that he’ll succumb to the lyrium again, and that doubt is tearing him apart.” Her voice had become more impassioned as she spoke, her hands now balled into fists at her side. “Please. He’s a good person struggling for his future, and I want him to succeed. I know he can do this, and I just want him to know that too. So please, help him.” He could hear tears in her voice as she spoke the last few words and felt a lump form in his own throat.

“Fen’harel’s teeth! This was a stupid idea. What am I--” She cut off with a gasp as Cullen grabbed her arm and turned her around to pull against his chest. He pressed his cheek to the top of her head letting the tears he was now crying fall into her hair.

“Thank you,” he whispered hoarsely. She slid her arms around him and held tightly to him for several moments.

Eventually she pulled away a little to look up into his face. “You heard?” she asked, and he watched color spread across her cheeks.

“I heard,” he told her.

“I know it was silly, and probably even blasphemous...”

“Myrlana, no one’s ever said or done anything that meant more to me than that prayer,” he told her with a smile.

She smiled back and reached a hand up to wipe away the last of his tears. “It’s good to see you smile again, vhenan. Perhaps my prayer worked?”

“Thank you for your blessing, Herald of Andraste.” She pinched him, hard, making him wince, but then he chuckled and kissed her, feeling lighter than he could ever remember being.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second piece I wrote in response to the "prayers" prompt. I _really_ liked that prompt. I just had so many things to say! The differences between Cullen's and Myrlana's religious beliefs is very interesting to me.
> 
> The other piece I wrote was [Prayers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4293291).
> 
> Thanks to [Delouest](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Delouest/pseuds/Delouest) for the great prompt!


End file.
